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User blog:Kuhlau/The Chapters, Ranked
We all know some chapters are better than others. Some are pure fluff, and some are actually very important. Here is where I will attempt to rank my personal favorite chapters. Spoilers ahead! # Chapter 15 Besieging Of The Cloud City/Chapter 15 Head North To The Cloud City: Is it cheating if I'm including both? Regardless, this is definitely the best chapter. There's just so much dialogue. The political stuff with Huo Qizhou and Zhong Lizi may have been a bit long-winded, but I feel like it sets a good precedent for including more and is probably just as frustrating for us as it is for Nikki and friends. And 15-9 is just... fantastic. I cry every time. Not only is it a great Bobo moment but it's really amazing worldbuilding. Also best girl Yunikina gets mentioned which is nice. # Chapter 17 Banquet of Sakura Fall: I have to give this one props for not only being a good story but also being excellently translated. For the most part I had little trouble understanding what was going on during my first read-through (I'll give exception to the auction stage, but I don't know how auctions work anyways, lol). # Chapter 6 Flower Field Encounter: I love Fu Su and the Designer both, and this was such a great way to introduce them. Dream Weaver supplements it well and it's got all sorts of worldbuilding. # Chapter 7 Celestial Pavilion: Pretty good. Lu Yinian is awesome, it was good to get to check in on Bai Jinjin and Zhong Lizi (see my thoughts below about them), and for once the content of styling battles were actually relevant. Even the side chapters had plot! (Well, 7-S3 anyways.) # Chapter 14 Lady's Choice: I initially thought of this as a filler chapter, but really it has some amazing parts. Starlet in the main story and her rather interesting fortunes, the introduction of Amphithea, the Whisper tribe and their fateful decision... Some really interesting stuff that ties everything together. # Chapter 12 Chaos in City: I want to rate this better. Really, I do. But it was just so confusing. Even the side chapters make fun of the excuses for styling this chapter brought - which have to be the worst in the whole story (this is the chapter that brought us "compete with her over who looks gloomier" after Bobo found out her Prime Minister was a rebel). Perhaps if we do get confirmation that the casket was what was used to call Nikki to Miraland, this might get higher ratings. # Chapter 9 Styling Contest Prelude: Despite being another "chapter before more important stuff happens", Chapter 9 brought us Fantasy Envoy, Ace, and some other mildly interesting interactions. # Chapter 13 Wasteland Exoticism: Even though this was a chapter whose plot did not connect well with the rest of the story, I still am tempted to rate it somewhat highly because it was coherent. # Chapter 1 Arriving the Wheat Field: Personally I consider this a low stakes beginning to what is clearly a high-stakes story. Yes, the design becomes more important in Dream Weaver, but there was still too much mucking about. There should have been more Mela. I guess it was an okay introduction though. # Chapter 8 Mysterious Moonlit City: To be totally honest, even though this had a coherent storyline, I don't think the story gained anything from this chapter with the exception of Orlando's introduction. If the Mayor and Lunar were working together the whole time and nothing was really stolen, then nothing happened and the plot was not progressed. I'm not sure where else to put Orlando, though. # Chapter 11 Styling Contest Finals: "But Kuhlau! Things totally happened in this chapter!" you may say. Yes, that's true, but only at the very end, and the rest of the chapter was just styling boredom. Even a revolution couldn't save this chapter. # Chapter 16 Night before Storm: Hmmm... for once, it was too much. It felt like two or three chapters mixed into one. First the Debbie business, then the Zhong Lizi business, then the Kimi and Orlando business, and then even some Neva business on the side. Just kind of extra and didn't make much sense. I think it would have been best to have this chapter cut, have the Iron Rose deliver a letter from Kimi to Nikki on the airship at the end of Chapter 15, and have Zhong Lizi's stuff... elsewhere. Okay, maybe that would be too big of a tonal shift and Chapter 16 is necessary after all. But it doesn't mean I have to like it. # Chapter 4 The Tea Party/Chapter 5 Mutated Tea Party: This storyline was barely more consequential than the 2/3 one. An entire chapter of lead-up to the tea party where, like, one thing happened. Nikki met Kimi - cool, but could have happened elsewhere, such as in Chapter 1. Bai Jinjin and Zhong Lizi was cute, but their entire story could have just happened in Chapter 7. The Iron Rose thing was a fakeout and Nikki didn't gain anything material from the encounter, only the idea to go to Cloud. And the chapters should have been merged together. # Chapter 2 Fairy Tale World Lilith/Chapter 3 'Witch and Star Sea': Two entire chapters in Cicia just to introduce Sofia and her past and have a few other characters appear on the side? Uhh, okay. Like, clothes are a big deal I get it, but we already have the "someone is stealing a dress" storyline in Chapter 17 and it does it much better because there are higher stakes other than "it's beautiful". And echoing my previous thoughts, if we really had to have this storyline, the two chapters should have been merged. Like, things happened, but they could have just happened quicker. # Chapter 10 Styling Contest Games: I make no secret of what a waste I consider this chapter. Nothing happens in it other than another chapter full of tedious styling contest games with no payoff lore-wise. The reason I didn't propose it to be merged like I did with others is because literally nothing would be lost by just trashing it entirely, rather than it sharing a storyline with another chapter. Let me know your thoughts! If you want. Category:Blog posts